On Thursday, the Daily Mail reported that a man who has been a suspect in the murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey in 1996 reportedly admitted he killed her. The crime has been unsolved for 22 years.

DailyMailTV obtained letters written by Gary Oliva, who is now 54, to a former high school classmate, music publicist Michael Vail. Investigators have conjectured that Oliva joined other men in breaking into JonBenét Ramsey’s house. A ransom note demanding $118,000 for the girl was found on the kitchen staircase before her body was found. The tiny girl was found with a broken skull from a blow to the head and had been strangled; a garrote was tied around her neck. In 2003, trace DNA that was taken from the child’s clothes showed it came from an unknown male; prompting the DA to send the Ramseys a letter of apology in 2008, declaring the family “completely cleared.”

Oliva, a convicted pedophile who is currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Colorado prison for having child pornography on his phone, allegedly stated in a letter to Vail, “’I never loved anyone like I did JonBenét and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die. It was an accident. Please believe me. She was not like the other kids.” He wrote in another letter, “JonBenét completely changed me and removed all evil from me. Just one look at her beautiful face, her glowing beautiful skin, and her divine God-body, I realized I was wrong to kill other kids. Yet by accident she died and it was my fault.”

Vail, 55, told DailyMailTV:

My suspicions began when Gary called me late at night on December 26, 1996. He was sobbing and said, ‘I hurt a little girl.’ I had known Gary from my time at high school and we had kept in touch. When he said he had hurt a little girl I tried to get more information out of him. The only other thing he told me was that he was in the Boulder, Colorado area. On December 27 I read on the front page of my local newspaper ‘Girl, 6, slain in Boulder, Colorado’. I knew I had to alert the police. I immediately called the Boulder Police Department and told them what I knew about Gary and what he had told me just days earlier. They didn’t get back to me. Three months later I called the police again to find out what was going on in its investigation of Gary, but instead I was sent to a police answering machine set up for tips on the JonBenét case. I left a message on the recorded line and again I never heard back from investigators.”

He continued:

I’ve continued this for decades now, even with him being in prison. But he has only just admitted to killing her. He believes he will go to hell if he doesn’t admit to it. I have now sent these letters to Boulder police in the hope it will get Gary to provide them with firm proof and to name who else may have been involved in JonBenét’s death. I hope it helps bring justice for JonBenét and peace for her family. Now they have this, a written confession, the police need to charge him with her murder. The thought that he could be released on probation next year chills me to the bone because he should never be allowed out. He is a danger to society. The day he walks free is the day I will be terrified for every child and family.

The letters were given to Boulder, Colorado, police. Police spokesperson Laurie Ogden told DailyMailTV, “The Boulder Police Department is aware of and has investigated Mr. Olivas’ potential involvement in this case. We have passed the additional information you provided onto investigators. We will not comment on any actions or the status of this investigation.”

JonBenét Ramsey’s body was discovered by her father John Ramsey in their home’s basement on December 26, 1996. DailyMailTV gained possession of a police report regarding Oliva’s 2016 arrest; the report stated hundreds of photos of JonBenét were found on his phone. Prior investigations showed Oliva had an address ten blocks from the Ramsay home in 1996.